


Custard

by 3tequilafloor



Series: Cruelty and Kindness [1]
Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Bodily Fluids, Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Gross, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-22 00:05:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7410523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3tequilafloor/pseuds/3tequilafloor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newly appointed Inspector Akane Tsunemori is frustrated by the way enforcers are regarded by the department. She can't really change anyone's minds, but when she discovers that one of her subordinates is feeling under the weather, she does her best to help- much to his consternation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Custard

Akane draws a sharp breath and bolts upright, blinking in confusion at her surroundings. Ah. She’s still at the office? She checks the time and muffles a yawn behind her sleeve. She fell asleep on the case files, and no one bothered to wake her. It’s probably just another hazing. There’s nothing to get upset about, even if it’s a little embarrassing.

She starts to gather her things up, but something stops her. A sound, muffled but distinct. Is that what woke her? Is someone else still here?

Following her ears isn’t as easy as she expects it to be, with the noise being so soft and intermittent. She makes a mental note to train harder for this type of situation in the future. It could be important in the field. Finally, she trails it to the break room just down the hall. When she pushes the door open curiously, she finds the lights dim and the room suddenly silent. 

“Hello? Is anyone in here?”

No one responds, so Akane enters. There’s a sliver of light coming from one of the toilet cubicles, and she really ought to leave whoever is in there be, but her concern overrides her sense of dignity. She’s responsible for some of her co-workers, after all. Squaring her shoulders, she tiptoes over and raps her knuckles lightly on the door. Predictably, there’s an annoyed response from the other side of the door. “Occupied!”

That would be that, if only the voice didn’t sound weaker than usual. She may not know the man well yet, but she associates him with a certain amount of energy. “Is everything alright?” Akane calls back, and she hears a quiet curse from within.

“I think I know how to do this alone by now, thanks.” He shoots back. The mouthiness doesn’t particularly bother her, based in frustration as she knows it is. It’s the gurgling burp that follows that gives her pause.

There are a few private things he could be doing, but she doesn’t think that’s the case. If she’s mistaken, she can apologize after, but if her hunch is right she’s not going to leave him be until she’s knows he’ll be ok. “Could you unlock the door?” She asks, touching the panel.

To her surprise it swings wide open. She’s less surprised to see Kagari crouched in front of the toilet, however. He groans, sounding irritated. “They don’t lock, you know? You don’t have to ask.”

“What are you doing?” Akane asks, kneeling close to him. He shouldn’t be on a cold toilet floor in the dark if he’s not feeling well.

Kagari huffs, a sound that dances a line between amused irony and flat resentment. “Changing the light. It’s gloomy in here, don’t you thi-uuuuurgh.”

Akane is startled to see him lurch forward and gag on air that way, but not completely shocked. His face is always a bit pale, considering his environment, but it’s practically translucent at the moment. There’s a sheen of sweat sticking his hair to his forehead as well. “You’re sick.” She points out, softly. “I’ll call medical.”

His hand shoots out, weaker and clumsier than she expects, but he finds her wrist and wraps his fingers around it. His hand is sweaty too, and shaking. When he opens his mouth to say something in protest all that comes out is another painful sounding dry heave. Her arm jerks in the socket with the movement, but her only complaint is a soft grunt of discomfort. “Nah. ’M fine.” He chokes out.

Akane stares at him incredulously. “You’re diaphoretic.”

“Yeah, well I wouldn’t have touched you if you knew when to butt out.” He sighs, releasing her wrist. He closes his eyes and swallows a few times, convulsively. “Now’s when, by the way. You’re not gonna wanna see this.”

She shakes her head, but with his eyes closed he probably can’t see that. So she verbalizes it. “I can’t just leave you alone when you’re sick.”

The statement is followed directly by an ominous gurgle from his stomach that she feels only makes her case stronger. Kagari leans forward, hovering above the toilet basin in anticipation now. “Like I said, I know what I’m doing.”

A frown pinches her face as the dots start to connect. He had said that. It’s just that now, she’s beginning to realize the implications of it. How long has it been since someone looked after him when he was ill? Has anyone ever even done that?

It isn’t as though latent criminals are highly regarded. She wants to believe no one could be so indifferent towards a child, but her experience so far leaves her with the uncomfortable thought that it’s a real possibility. He may be 21 now, but what would it be like to suffer alone through every stomach bug in primary? That can’t be right.

“Let’s get you to medical.” She repeats, squaring up her shoulders again. This time, she’ll make sure someone looks after him.

“Aw, come on. I’m not causing any trouble here!” He snaps, with a vehemence that surprises her. It also proves to be his undoing. He lurches forward again with a sickly belch and spits up a mouthful of thick, milky vomit. It looks like custard. Is that what he’s been eating? He could really use some help if that’s the case.

It’s disgusting. Her own stomach flips in revulsion and sympathy, but she steels herself against it. She can shudder about it later. For now she reaches up and pulls his hair away from his face. His eyes spring open in surprise at that.

He looks as though he wants to comment on it, but then he blanches and gives a shuddering heave. Akane closes her own eyes and tries not to let the sound of his stomach contents splashing into the basin water get the better of her.

This round of vomit is followed up with a very imaginative string of curses. He spits to clear his mouth, then slumps back onto his haunches to catch his breath. Akane opens her eyes to flush the mess away and take him in. He doesn’t really look much better. “You’re hot.” She tells him, resisting the urge to wipe her hands off on something.

“Thanks.” He responds playfully, which is more like the usual cheek from him. She stares him down until he sighs and looks away, as if he can see through the tiles on the wall. “I’m a couple ticks down from brain damage, relax. Checked twice.”

That isn’t very reassuring, even if he seems to be comfortable with it. The fact he knows what temperature is damaging is disconcerting in a different way. Another puzzle piece clicks into place for her. “You don’t like going to medical.”

“Now you’re catching on.” His lip quirks in what she thinks is going to be a smile for a second, until he hurries to scramble back over the toilet again.

Akane feels her own face pale as he splutters through a few sick, gurgling belches straight into a series of painful looking dry heaves. She finds herself reaching out to rub his back without thinking. “Don’t fight it. You’ll feel better if you get it up. Try to relax.”

He groans and slumps forward even further, so that the next burp echoes off of the porcelain. “Seriously, why are you-” Kagari cuts himself off with a sharp hiccup. His back arches with another spasm, and something dribbles up through his lips this time. He gives a gurgling groan and spits again.

“Because you won’t go see the doctor.” She sighs back at him, moving to hold his hair back again with the hand that isn’t rubbing his back. He spits up another mouthful and coughs miserably. “So, I’m going to bring the nursing to you.”

He chokes on something between a laugh and a gag, but somehow it still manages to sound dry. “This is nothing like that dream.”

Sick or not, she slaps him across the back for that comment. She does feel a little bad when it sets him off wharking harshly again, though. It takes him a good minute to bring up the next few bouts of custard and bile, and when he seems to be finished with it he’s clearly exhausted. His eyes are dull with the fever. He lays his head on the toilet lip, as if moving away from it is too much effort. “This blows.”

Again, Akane flushes the mess away. She sighs, and cards his sweaty hair absently. He keeps one eye cracked to watch her, somewhat mistrusting even in this kind of situation.  
The enforcers often display different levels of that behaviour, so she tries not to let it bother her. She can’t really blame them, after all. “What’s so bad about the doctor?”

“Hey, I’ve had my shots.” He slurs. Then he blinks, and weakly tries to rouse himself, not liking the turn the conversation is taking. His arms are shaking, but he manages to push himself up on them until he can switch to leaning against the wall, the better to keep an eye on her.

The next admission is mumbled. She only really understands it because he makes a sidewards tugging motion with his wrist that puts the idea visually into her head. “Gettin’ handcuffed to the bed isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

Ah. That’s true. They do handcuff the enforcers to the beds. She’s seen that. It strikes her as a strange complaint coming from someone who spends quite a lot of time in handcuffs regardless, and then that thought strikes her as shockingly cruel. How is it she’s already becoming so accustomed to something like that?  
Right. Well, that’s all she needs to hear. She sets her jaw. They’ll just have to take initiative, then. “Do you think you’re finished?”

As if on cue, his stomach burbles loudly. He belches softly and makes a face. “We’ve probably got a couple minutes.” He decides, a little hoarse from the strain on his throat.

Akane gets to her feet and smooths her skirts down, then offers him a hand up. “Then let’s get you to bed.”

Kagari accepts the hand up, but he sways on his feet and has to grab the wall for balance when Akane isn’t able to counter his weight. “Too far. How ‘bout the sofa outside?”  
It’s not great. That’ll provide him a few hours of peace at most before the morning shift arrives, but it’s better than sitting on the cramped bathroom floor all night getting no rest at all. She nods affirmatively and lets him steady himself on her shoulder until they reach it.

When he’s settled she pulls a dust bin over, brings some water, grabs a tea towel and takes some ice from the freezer for a makeshift cold compress. He watches her the whole time curiously, and it gives her that same ugly sense of being watched by an animal too clever for the cage. Humans don’t do well with captivity for obvious reasons.

She doesn’t bother asking if anyone’s ever done this for him before, because the answer is right there. Instead, she focuses on what few kindnesses she can safely offer to those entrusted to her care. “I’ll ask about those locks tomorrow.” She promises.

He blinks slowly up at her, as if his eyes are getting heavy. That’s good. Hopefully he can sleep the worst of it off. She jumps when he laughs weakly, as if she’s just told a particularly dim-witted joke. “Yeah, sure. Go right ahead.” He murmurs.

She’s not thrilled he’s laughing at her, but it’s probably preferable to groaning in pain. She decides not to pursue the subject for now. “I’ll just be over there reviewing files if you need anything.”

The puzzled look he gives her at that twists her gut again, and she finds herself beyond sympathetic. Now she’s just angry. What’s the matter with people around here? Can it honestly be that important to keep a cold distance?

He settles on a casual “thanks.” The peace between them lasts less than a minute. In the next instant he bolts upright and snatches the bin off the floor. As another glob of half-digested custard hits the bottom of it heavily, Akane resigns herself to a long and miserable night.

That’s fine. Whatever the other inspectors might have to say about it, she decides that she doesn’t mind.

**Author's Note:**

> To those unfamiliar with the series: It's a future world where the potential to commit wrong acts can be measured. Potential is enough to lock someone up as a danger to society. Kagari has been in custody since the age of 5 as a potential criminal, and he became an enforcer- a potential criminal who works with the police department in exchange for the ability to work in the field- and works under the supervision of Inspector Tsunemori.


End file.
